Catechizing My Daughter

Last year I shared a post on Driven By The Gospel on Scripture songs album that your kids might want to listen to. It’s a short list but these are albums we play from Spotify in our car. But what I didn’t share in that post is that there is an album that stands out and what my daughter (and of course our family) really loved. We play that every time we go out together especially going to church on Sunday. My daughter likes it a lot and sings along with it. In fact, she memorized some of it already and the message that these songs carries that are important in her spiritual growth. She might find this fun and entertaining but I pray that these songs will open for more biblical truths that she should know and stand for when she gets older. She easily picks up the song and catechizing her with the actual catechism for children speeds up the process of memorization.

How to Create an Instant Digital Christian Library Without Breaking the Bank

Previously I posted on my Facebook an article from Tim Challies blog that made theology geeks everywhere shout for joy. The title of the article is “A Secret Way to Kick-Start Your Theological Library” in which he gave tips on how to create a digital library without breaking the bank. Tim listed links of free downloadable theology journals from different seminaries or organizations. He even includes a link on how to use Evernote to save and catalog those fine resources. I already checked those journals and I can attest that they are great resources considering that they are free. So if you don’t want to buy expensive theology book, this article will give you the best alternative..

Book Review: “Both-And”(Ross Cunningham)

The internet gave us a new venue on how we get our theology. Believers get to find videos, audios, e-books and courses that will assist us to grasp the tenets of biblical Christianity. And as the internet matures it shapes also how we take information that is essentials. Theology is without exemption. We as are now netizen leaning more in the visual, infographic driven, brief videos for the fleeting attention span. This poses a new terrain for us Christians to discover.

8 Favorite Quotes From the Book “Fixated: Advent Meditations from the Book of Hebrews” by Tim Chester

Someone is staring the holidays by releasing books that are geared for Chistmas. 10 Publishing’s upcoming books will keep you focus on the birth of our Savior. This blog will keep you company by giving you reviews and share quotes from each new titles. You can check the list of titles and pre-order links if you like what you see by going to the FB Page of this blog.

So enjoy these quotes from the book, Fixated: Advent Meditations from The Book of Hebrews by Tim Chester published by 10 Publishing. If you like these quotes, pre-order the book by clicking here.

“The writer of the book of Hebrews has an answer to those questions and it’s one that might surprise you. It’s not a set of rigorous spiritual disciplines. It’s not a three-month discipleship programme. It doesn’t involve going to Bible college or locking yourself away in a monastery. His answer is simple – fix your eyes on Jesus.”

8 Favorite Quotes From the Book “Essentials” by Lee McMunn

Living with my in law who needs a dialysis twice a week, me and my wife need to adjust. I have a graveyard shift so my time in the morning is flexible. But I need to make much of those dialysis sessions. So I decided, since I’ll be taking my father in law two times a week (Tuesday and Friday) at the hospital for his 4 hour dialysis session, I might as well bring some digital “baon”. Aside from e-books, I’ll be listening to various podcast from Spotify. It’s a mix bag of Reformed theology, business, comics and kid lit. I want those 4 hours to count as I listen, enjoy and learn.

Anyways, here’s Lee McMunn’s book Essentials, published by 10 of Those.  If you like these quotes, please get yourself a copy of this book by ordering at the 10 of Those website. Book review of this book is coming up.

“The Bible teaches that the God who is responsible for all the good and beautiful things, from the tiniest particle to the grandest planet, is a united family of three persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

“The Bible says it’s because the God who made us is a relationship of three persons, and we have been created to live in a similar way. That’s why relationships are so important to us.”

“The reason God has the right to rule our lives is because he created us. We know from our everyday existence that those who make things, whether small or grand, have ownership rights over their creations. “

“Passionate commitment to God and his way is for our happiness. Living with God in charge is not drudgery, it is delightful.”

“Rejecting God spells disaster for our eternal future. Cosmic treason is expensive. “

“Forgiveness alone would have been amazing. But the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit offers us much more. As well as forgiveness, we are invited to enjoy a relationship with each member of the Trinity.”

“Obeying Jesus in a world where many people don’t inevitably brings Christians into conflict with competing ideas. Therefore, anyone who follows Jesus should expect turbulence.”

“Relationship with the Father is very personal, but it is never to be individualistic. Anyone who follows Jesus instantly has lots of siblings!”

The Quotable Round-Up #86

Howdy! It’s a great day to sit down, chill and sip your favorite drink! And while at it, add some awesomeness in your day by reading our latest collection of quotes.  This time we are featuring fresh quotes from the book “Good News: The Gospel of Jesus Christ” by John F. MacArthur Jr. And if you got stoked with these quotes, please get the book at your nearest Christian bookstore or on Amazon.

“The message of the gospel is the message of reconciliation. The alienated sinner can be reconciled to God. That’s what we pray for, it’s what we teach, and it’s why we live. Some even die for it. It is the unparalleled message of reconciliation with God through the work of Christ. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation.”

“The only reason God has kept us in the world is for the work of evangelism. Yes, we’re saved to worship, but God tolerates our imperfect worship on this side of eternity for the sake of adding to His kingdom. We’re also saved to be sanctified, but God tolerates our inadequate, incomplete sanctification to keep us here to evangelize. He endures all our consistent errors and failures because He has work for us here that we cannot accomplish in heaven.”

“The notion that God is a loving and compassionate Savior contradicts the core doctrines of the world’s religions. If you study the history of religion, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a savior god among them. When men and demons design gods, that’s simply not how they design them. Demonic religious systems don’t concoct deities anything like the God of the Bible. Instead, they generally range from indifferent to severely hostile.”

“We need to understand that reconciliation does not start with the sinner, or some cosmic cry that God responds to. We don’t have to ask God to accept the sinner—we don’t have to coax Him into it through pressure or praise. He is not reluctant to save. Reconciliation begins with God—it’s woven into His glorious nature.”

“We don’t sit in judgment of God’s judgment. The question is not, why did God send bears out of the woods to destroy a group of boys who yelled “bald head” at a prophet (2 Kings 2:23–24)? The question is not, why did the ground open up and swallow people whole for violating Old Testament law (Num. 16)? The question is not, why did God displace and destroy the idolatrous Canaanites? The question is not, why did God destroy the globe and preserve only Noah and his family? Those questions are easy to answer: the wages of sin—no matter how great or small the sin might seem to us—is always death (Rom. 6:23).”

“True reconciliation requires God’s forgiveness. The only way reconciliation can occur is if the offended party is willing to forgive and remove the barrier sin creates. The sinner cannot reconcile himself to God. Only the Lord can effect reconciliation by choosing not to count our trespasses against us.”

“We ought to cling to the vital doctrine of God’s sovereignty. But don’t ever let your view of sovereignty overwhelm or obscure the fact that sinners have a responsibility to respond to God—and we have a responsibility to beg them to do so. God accomplishes His reconciling work through—not in spite of—the obedience of faith from those He calls to be reconciled.”

 

Pastor Talk: Delighting Grace Interviews Jon Hawkins of Pastor Discussions Podcast (Part 1)

There’s a new podcast on the block and Delighting Grace wants you to tune in. It features a couple pastors having a conversation about doctrine, faith and Christian life. Its’ called Pastor Discussion Podcast. It will hit the internet on January 16 and it will be awesome. So DG talked to Jon Hawkins about the podcast.

Delighting Grace:  Hi Jon, please tell us what’s Pastor Discussion Podcast?

Jon Hawkins: First, let me say thank you for reaching out and inviting us to share what God is doing with your readers. I really appreciate you including us in your blog.

Delighting Grace:  It’s a pleasure helping you guys out.

Jon Hawkins:  The Pastor Discussions Podcast is your weekly conversation about doctrine, faith and the Christian life with a couple of rural pastors. The idea is to invite the listener to join a weekly conversation about issues that they face and that are relevant to their lives. There are a lot of Christian podcasts out there and so we considered whether or not this was even something that was needed.

What we started noticing is that there are sermon podcasts, podcasts with one or two hosts talking with each other, podcasts that are simply interviews with famous people, and podcasts like Ask Pastor John where the pastor fields questions. We wanted to not only let the listeners drive the content through sending us topics for shows, but also include them in the show. We plan on regularly having listeners, fellow pastors, and church members on the show. The aim is a kind of podcast community where people feel like they are a part of the show and give them things to talk about with their friends and family so they can be more active in growing in their faith.

Delighting Grace:  How did you guys came up with this podcast? Who’s idea was it?

Jon Hawkins:  I have been thinking about it for a while. We have a group of guys that meet together weekly and it’s a time of fellowship and laughter, but we also talk about the Bible or situations we are facing in our lives. At one point one of the guys said “I wish that people could just experience this. That they could just listen and see how natural and beneficial it is to talk about the Bible or Christ with other people who will sharpen and challenge you”. That got me thinking. Our church has grown and we are no longer a small church, but we are also not a big church. We are in this sort of in-between stage and learning how to function that way. There are blessings to growth, but also challenges. Because of that, it is hard to find time to do discipleship with a large part of our congregation like I would like to. At best, I can meet with 4-5 people on a weekly basis and that’s wonderful, but I wanted to produce content that is easily accessible and practical for our church as a whole and is plug and play so it could accommodate people’s schedules.

Delighting Grace:  I think we all struggle with that part and we really need to address it through digital means.

Jon Hawkins:   So I started asking how we could leverage the blessing of technology to not only help address things that Christians in our church face, but also reach a broader population and minister to the Christian community as a whole. So I talked to the two other staff pastors about starting a podcast. We wanted to model what Christian conversations look like as well as give people content to talk about in their homes, to think about throughout the week, and to study in the Bible for themselves. I think a lot of Christians have never experienced what it looks like to talk about doctrine, faith and the Christian life without it feeling forced or cheesy or what it looks like to be sharpened by someone else. There are also others who don’t feel like they could contribute to a conversation like that because they feel they don’t know enough or something like that. I know I felt that way, but there were men in our church when I was a young Christian that invited me into those conversations.

I listened and thought and asked questions and grew as a result of that. A lot of Christian growth comes from talking about God and life, listening, and learning to see the world through the lens of the gospel. So that’s what we wanted to replicate using the medium of podcast. We are hoping that it will spur conversation within homes and friends, but especially that there would be people in our church that ask questions about a show and give us more of an opportunity to walk with them through their relationship with Christ and see it deepen and grow.

Delighting Grace:  Who are the pastors that will be on board on the podcast?

Jon Hawkins:   All three of us staff pastors will be regularly involved. Pastor Joe is our Pastor for Worship and Pastor Jonathan is our Pastor for Family Ministry. Both of them bring something unique to the show and have great perspectives. Joe has a tremendous grasp on worship and outreach and Jonathan is a Biblical Counselor and has a heart to see parents actively involved and leading in the discipleship and evangelism of their children. He is also a gifted writer and is planning on doing some blogging on the Pastor Discussions website. In addition to them, we will also have guest pastors on the show. We have some guys lined up from Chicago, rural Nebraska, Canada, the Dominican Republic and everywhere in between. Guys in cities and guys in small towns. There is also an open invitation to John Piper, Matt Chandler, and Kevin DeYoung, but they must have lost my email address 😉

Delighting Grace:  Whoa, John Piper on your show, that will be awesome!  There are lots of podcast out there in the internet, what makes “Pastor Discussion” unique?

Jon Hawkins:   I think there are a few ways that Pastor Discussions will be unique. First, we want to have listeners drive the content. We want to hear from them on what they want us to talk about and then we will talk about it. We aren’t extremely limited in our scope because the Christian life and the implications of what following Christ means in our daily interactions isn’t limited to one area or topic.

Second, we are unique in that we want to not only talk about issues, but hear real stories from Christians on how God has been faithful in their lives. We want to help people share their unique experiences of God’s grace and faithfulness to encourage others.

Third, it’s unique because we don’t want a niche. We want to address issues that people of different races and genders care about. We want to minister to a lot of different kinds of Christians. For example, we want to have women on the show and help encourage Christian women to be women of “Velvet Steel” (a term coined by John Piper). We might even be able to talk our wives into being on the show… It’s a long shot, but who knows. We want to have conversations on racism with minority brothers and sisters and address issues that they face and help people understand their perspective and then work talk through what the Bible has to say about that TOGETHER.

Finally, we are unique because of the guys on the show. We are serious when we need to be, but we are friends that like to laugh, joke around, and poke at one another. We are really trying to give people a glimpse into our friendship and the fellowship that flows out of that. We want to be a show where a husband and wife, parents and kids, or a group of friends can sit down together, listen and be entertained and challenged, and then have some good, edifying conversation afterwards about the content.

Delighting Grace: Now that’s something to look forward to. How can listeners interact with you guys to be part of the show?

(To be continued next week. Pastor Discussions Podcast premieres January 16, 2018. Check their website www.pastordiscussions.com to listen to their podcast, subscribe to their mailing list and enter giveaways.)

Help promote Pastor Discussion Podcast: Download and share it on your social media these promotional posters:  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c0p033c6n5f20f8/AADkmN1Mg8r6tTPkaweyBUuqa?dl=0

Book Review: “Aspire: Transformed by the Gospel Part 1” by Matt Rogers

     This book is such a surprise because I would expect it’s just the usual book format that we all know. But as I open it from the postal package, it was this big journal size book. And as I thumb a few pages, the fonts are big and lots of lines which is where you’ll jot your answer. So this is not a usual book. And so is the content.

Matt Rogers “Aspire” is geared for one on one discipleship by tackling first the very foundation of the Christian faith which is the gospel. This book unravels the basic topics pertaining to the gospel in a 15 week study. The weekly studies discuss the gospel incorporated in some Christian doctrines. The starting point is creation where sin enters and how sin where our worship changes its focus from God to Satan. As the book progresses we see how this gracious and merciful God redeems these fallen worshipers. Of course when discussing doctrine, theological words are needed to be defined. “Aspire” covers that by highlighting these important words and defining it. The book’s later parts prepares the reader to be mission minded and to disciple too.

Now comes the sweaty part: the questions. You need to answers these to get most of the book. The questions on each part of the study are not just your run-of-the-mill passive questions you can get from a study guide in a usual book. Rather these questions will make you think and reflect for a moment. Also some of the questions are quite personal. And if you think this question and answer portion of “Aspire” left all the figuring out to the readers, think again. Chunks of biblical content are explained enough for you to chew and be satisfied on. “Aspire” will aid anyone to a healthy spiritual growth fit to be a disciple of Christ.
“Aspire” is well written, theological rich and personal workbook that will ground you in solid foundation. If you don’t know where to start with your discipleship, this book will definitely get you a jump start. If this book is so good how much more would be the sequel? For a pastor this will be a go to book for a deep one on one discipleship. For the individual Christian, prepare for a book that will pull you into a deep understanding of the redemptive story of God. Highly recommended.
My verdict: 5 out of 5 stars
(I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review)

The Quotable Round-Up #44

Here are some of the quotes from the book “Tactics” by Christian apologist Greg Koukl. If you enjoy this quotes, please feel free to share this post over your social media. God bless you and enjoy your week!
“Without the work of the Spirit, no argument — no matter how persuasive — will be effective. But neither will any act of love nor any simple presentation of the gospel. Add the Spirit, though, and the equation changes dramatically.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Here’s the key principle: Without God’s work, nothing else works; but with God’s work, many things work. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, love persuades. By the power of God, the gospel transforms. And with Jesus at work, arguments convince. God is happy to use each of these methods.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Our job is to communicate the gospel as clearly, graciously, and persuasively as possible. God’s job is to take it from there. We may plant the seeds or water the saplings, but God causes whatever increase comes from our efforts.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Understanding God’s central role in the process removes a tremendous burden. We can focus on our job — being clear, gracious, and persuasive — and then leave the results to God (what I called “100% God and 100% man”).”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Sometimes the little things have the greatest impact. Using simple leading questions is an almost effortless way to introduce spiritual topics to a conversation without seeming abrupt, rude, or pushy.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth

The Quotable Round-Up #43

Here are some of the quotes from the book “Tactics” by Christian apologist Greg Koukl. If you enjoy this quotes, please feel free to share this post over your social media. God bless you and enjoy your week!
“Beware when rhetoric becomes a substitute for substance. You always know that a person has a weak position when he tries to accomplish with the clever use of words what argument alone cannot do.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Always make it a goal to keep your conversations cordial. Sometimes that will not be possible. If a principled, charitable expression of your ideas makes someone mad, there’s little you can do about it. Jesus’ teaching made some people furious. Just make sure it’s your ideas that offend and not you, that your beliefs cause the dispute and not your behavior.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“To be of one mind biblically doesn’t mean that all have to share the same opinion. It means a warm fellowship based on communion with Christ in the midst of differences. It does not mean abandoning all attempts at refining our knowledge by enforcing an artificial unanimity. True maturity means learning how to disagree in an aggressive fashion, yet still maintaining a peaceful harmony in the church.” — Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
” We need to cultivate the ability to disagree with civility and not take opposition personally. We must also have the grace to allow our own views to be challenged with evidence, reasoning, and Scripture. Those who refuse to dispute have a poor chance of growing in their understanding of truth.” — Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“This is a dangerous attitude for the church because the minute one is labeled mean-spirited simply for raising an opposing view, debate is silenced. If we disqualify legitimate discussion, we compromise our ability to know the truth.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Arguments are good, and dispute is healthy. They clarify the truth and protect us from error and religious despotism. When the church discourages principled debates and a free flow of ideas, the result is shallow Chris tian ity and a false sense of unity.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth